Mandy, I’m so inspired by this piece. So proud of you for forging your own path and happy that it’s bearing fruits in so many areas of your life!
This line really hit home to me: “Through writing, I became a writer. It didn’t happen the other way around.” I’ve struggled with this in the past of wanting to be good at something before actually doing it. You said it beautifully, we become by doing — not by thinking of doing, not by researching of doing, not by debating of doing.
I have a question. I got it that consistency is the key. You said find out what works and do it repeatedly. But how to know what works? Could it be that I'm repeatedly doing the "wrong thing"?
It's amazing that you manage to turn your life around in just a few months. I'm happy for you. But it doesn't really happen to everyone. There are days that I doubt if I'm even on the right track. Good things take time but is it even the path to the good things?
Yes! That makes sense! The tricky part is the step 1 and 2. Some people wait for the idea to validate first before acting on it. And some people do many things but yet to find out what work. Well, that's life :)
This is my last week at my 9-5 so I’m still very early, but I’m already cherishing the clarity and autonomy of creating something valuable on my own terms!
I didn't realized how depressed I was at my job until I resigned. Suddenly I'm jumping out of bed at 6am and writing for hours. I have more energy than I've had in years. I had been spending all my energy on the wrong thing all this time and it left me depleted. who knew.
Great article Mandy !! For your writing routine, have you always been able to stick to that recently ? And how to deal with when you are not able to stick to that routine and / or your last article didnt work well ?
1. when you are not able to stick to that routine - there were a couple days when I woke up feeling like I should just take a break, and then I did. The hard thing about solopreneurship is not having paid PTO - so you really need to give yourself permission to take a break.
2. your last article didnt work well - It happened very many times, so I'm used to it now. When starting out, it bothered me a lot, but if you think about publishing as winning a lottery, the more numbers you buy (more articles), the more likely you are winning a lottery. So that's how I approach it
a great piece mandy, love your thought process behind going solopreneurship and how you slowly build your portfolios of different projects. It’s a hard journey on your own but almost certainly rewarding and you gained unique entrepreneurial experience second to none! Also i am so glad to see that you position corporate exit from the initial counter programming to the eventual value added/ value exploration life goal ! Act first, and perfect later, always better to do something 20% than delaying the 100%.
Awesome! Excellent post, Mandy! We've all had that 'moment on the bus' seeing a sudden invite to a meeting with HR or a cold termination like yours. Really, how dehumanizing it all is. That last time I was laid off, I threw in the towel. That was in January, and I haven't looked back. Kudos to you for blazing your own trail. We're cheering for you! 🙌🏼
Thank you for sharing!! Been there and love how you turned lemons into lemonade.
Nice one Mandy!
Sure relate to this line:
"We’re often taught to wait until we know the right answer before taking action." Bang on.
Great progress.
I'm about day 870 or so from walking away (corporate public sector). Never looked back.
Rooting for you David!
Thank you for sharing this - I definitely needed to read this now :)
This is so inspiring Mandy!
Thank you Hemanshu!
I enjoyed reading this. There were so many relatable pieces in this article. . Keep going!
Wow, you've come so far already, it's amazing what you've achieved in 100 days, congratulations!
“Who am I to share advice? Who’s even listening?” - this line felt like you were reading my diary 😅
Good to know everyone goes through it
Mandy, I’m so inspired by this piece. So proud of you for forging your own path and happy that it’s bearing fruits in so many areas of your life!
This line really hit home to me: “Through writing, I became a writer. It didn’t happen the other way around.” I’ve struggled with this in the past of wanting to be good at something before actually doing it. You said it beautifully, we become by doing — not by thinking of doing, not by researching of doing, not by debating of doing.
Adriana, I'm so glad this piece resonates! You said it beautifully:
"we become by doing — not by thinking of doing, not by researching of doing, not by debating of doing"
This is one of the profound things I only truly grasped in the past 100 days.
Cheers to more learnings together!
Great lessons Mandy, you are doing great and you just got started.
Nowadays I’m embracing failure a lot more. I TRY to get rejected and ask for feedback so that I can get better at what at I do.
"I TRY to get rejected and ask for feedback so that I can get better at what at I do."
I love this so much
I have a question. I got it that consistency is the key. You said find out what works and do it repeatedly. But how to know what works? Could it be that I'm repeatedly doing the "wrong thing"?
It's amazing that you manage to turn your life around in just a few months. I'm happy for you. But it doesn't really happen to everyone. There are days that I doubt if I'm even on the right track. Good things take time but is it even the path to the good things?
Such a great question, Davuth! I think the process needs to be revised to:
1. Do something
2. Do more of what works
3. Do it consistently
I found out what works through constant trial and error. Does that make sense?
Yes! That makes sense! The tricky part is the step 1 and 2. Some people wait for the idea to validate first before acting on it. And some people do many things but yet to find out what work. Well, that's life :)
It's smart to set checkpoints. I check in every month to recalibrate on what works and what doesn't
“The day I became a solopreneur because I’m done with other people controlling my fate.
I decided to ditch the corporate world and step into something new.”
I feel this so hard! I’m beginning my own self-employment journey and I really enjoyed your transparency here. Best of luck in your next 100 days!
Thanks! How’s your solo journey going?
This is my last week at my 9-5 so I’m still very early, but I’m already cherishing the clarity and autonomy of creating something valuable on my own terms!
Rooting for you Jones!
Thanks so much! 🙌
I didn't realized how depressed I was at my job until I resigned. Suddenly I'm jumping out of bed at 6am and writing for hours. I have more energy than I've had in years. I had been spending all my energy on the wrong thing all this time and it left me depleted. who knew.
Wow! That's great to hear Kimberly! Sorry about you being depressed at your last job but sounds like you have an amazing routine now
Great article Mandy !! For your writing routine, have you always been able to stick to that recently ? And how to deal with when you are not able to stick to that routine and / or your last article didnt work well ?
1. when you are not able to stick to that routine - there were a couple days when I woke up feeling like I should just take a break, and then I did. The hard thing about solopreneurship is not having paid PTO - so you really need to give yourself permission to take a break.
2. your last article didnt work well - It happened very many times, so I'm used to it now. When starting out, it bothered me a lot, but if you think about publishing as winning a lottery, the more numbers you buy (more articles), the more likely you are winning a lottery. So that's how I approach it
a great piece mandy, love your thought process behind going solopreneurship and how you slowly build your portfolios of different projects. It’s a hard journey on your own but almost certainly rewarding and you gained unique entrepreneurial experience second to none! Also i am so glad to see that you position corporate exit from the initial counter programming to the eventual value added/ value exploration life goal ! Act first, and perfect later, always better to do something 20% than delaying the 100%.
Thank you Jana! "Act first, and perfect later" - the most simple but profound lesson I learned in the past 100 days
This is truly great. Thank you for writing this and for @jasonleonard for mentioning this one.
hey thanks!
Awesome! Excellent post, Mandy! We've all had that 'moment on the bus' seeing a sudden invite to a meeting with HR or a cold termination like yours. Really, how dehumanizing it all is. That last time I was laid off, I threw in the towel. That was in January, and I haven't looked back. Kudos to you for blazing your own trail. We're cheering for you! 🙌🏼
Good luck 🙌